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Rutgers’ Usha Gilmore scores a layup during a 74-70 win against Connecticut at the RAC on Feb. 10, 1998 — the first for the Scarlet Knights in a longstanding rivalry that might end Saturday. (MyCentralJersey.com file photo)

PISCATAWAY It started with Rutgers wanting to be the Jewel of the East and it is ending because Rutgers is joining the ranks of the Midwest.

The rivalry between the Rutgers and Connecticut women’s basketball teams dates back to July 1995 when, with UConn fresh off winning its first national title, new coach C. Vivian Stringer said, “I just know that Rutgers will be the ‘Jewel of the East’” at her first press conference.

Now, with Rutgers headed to the Big Ten next season, the 4 p.m. matchup today at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn. is the final scheduled meeting. Both coaches have publicly expressed interest in continuing the series, but it likely is too late to get anything done for next season.

“I knew that they were the power that they were, and my attitude is that if somebody is good I want to go to it,” Stringer said. “Did I know that we were going to win a couple games? No, but I knew that we were going to compete.”

Here is a look back at the history of Rutgers-UConn, broken down into three distinct eras, where intensity is the common theme.

“You pay attention to how people walk, how they talk, how they tie their shoes coming up to this game,” said Chelsea Newton, a former Rutgers star (2001-05) turned assistant coach.

The first 18 meetings: Years before Cappie Pondexter jabbed her finger into Geno Auriemma’s chest after thinking the coach aimed a derogatory comment her way, and before Auriemma dismissed the rivalry as “one-sided” and called Rutgers fans “ignorant,” Rutgers’ Usha Gilmore reacted to what she saw as a bump in the postgame handshake line by shoving UConn’s Tammy Arnold.

The footage made ESPN’s continuous loop. The bad blood officially was born Jan. 15, 1997.

“We had the bark as well as the fight in our years,” said Gilmore, who went on to play in the WNBA and is now the head coach at Illinois Institute of Technology. “Our little sisters followed suit and made Rutgers stronger and stronger. It never seems to fail. Whenever UConn-Rutgers plays, it’s going to be a packed house, it’s going to be intense, and every little thing might spark something.”

Gilmore still remembers the date (Feb. 10, 1998) of Rutgers’ first win, when then-freshman Linda Miles ran past the UConn bench and said “Four more years.” It was Rutgers’ only win in the first 18 meetings.

“I remember it like it was yesterday because it was that sweet of a moment. Everybody always hypes it up so much, but when that day comes, ‘Oh, the lights come on,’” Gilmore said. “I remember Coach Stringer being all smiles. We loved to see her like that because we remember seeing her straight-faced and all about the business and that one time she was really, really light. We felt like we gave her the world.”

The next eight meetings: Rutgers’ win on Feb. 13, 2005 ushered in a new era where the rivalry arguably was the best in the sport. Weeks later, Rutgers clinched the first of back-to-back Big East regular-season championships, ending UConn’s run of 11 straight in the process.

“Being able to win that game our senior year and getting over the hump, it was like, ‘Oh my Gosh, we did it,” Newton said. “My senior class, we felt like we had arrived. They were our measuring stick. As a player, you were like, “Yes, we finally beat Geno.’ It’s his face. It’s Geno. We beat Geno. At the end of the day, I think he is an awesome coach and a cool guy.”

In 2007, Rutgers beat UConn to win its first Big East Tournament title and rode the momentum en route the NCAA Tournament final. Another win Feb. 5, 2008 – when Epiphanny Prince had 33 points to end UConn’s 34-game regular-season winning streak – was its fifth in eight tries.

“Rutgers had already established themselves as a good basketball program, and during those years we really moved up in the rankings as far as becoming a powerhouse program,” said Essence Carson, who played from 2004-08 and now is a member of the New York Liberty. “To be the best you have to beat the best. We went into those games being confident and coming out with a win assured us that we are amongst the best.”

The last 11 meetings: The tables turned in dramatic fashion, with UConn rallying from a 14-point first-half deficit to oust Rutgers in the Elite Eight the only time they met in the Big Dance.

After that game, Rutgers said goodbye to Carson and Matee Ajavon and hello to the nation’s No. 2-ranked recruiting class. But it’s a loss from which Rutgers hasn’t rebounded, with losses in each of the next nine meetings during an 11-game losing streak by an average of 22.9 points.

“My most memorable moment is playing against them (2009) Senior Night,” said April Sykes, who played from 2008-12. “I was just a wide-eyed freshman and didn’t understand the meaning of the rivalry until that game. Although, we lost that game just the passion and level of intensity that was played on both sides set the tone for my next three years at RU.”

Even this season’s team, built on underclass talent and ranked No. 24 in the nation, allowed to UConn the most points (90) scored by an opponent at the RAC in Stringer’s 19-year tenure.

“Probably Geno likes to define a rivalry – as well as anyone who has been in his position – as something where you don’t know its outcome,” Stringer said. “We haven’t really been able to have a true rivalry for a long time, or not for a sustained time. Within our conference, we were able to touch it for a little bit.”

Added Sykes, “The ending to the rivalry is a shocker to us as former players and I’m sure to the current players today. I don’t think this rivalry will die: There’s so much history between the two teams, schools and coaches.”

About Ryan Dunleavy

Ryan Dunleavy has covered Rutgers athletics for more than a decade, dating back to his days as a student at his alma mater. He became New Jersey Press Media’s Rutgers women’s basketball beat writer in 2009 and Rutgers football beat writer in 2013. Since joining the staff in 2004, the Morris County native also has covered the NFL, MLB, NBA, the Somerset Patriots and high school sports.

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